A Fresh Look at Resistance Spot Welding of Aluminum Automotive Components

With a worldwide interest in aluminum as a major structural component in automotive manufacture, a renewed investigation of resistance spot welding as a joining method was undertaken. A comparison was made among various methods and standards for evaluating resistance spot welds. Included is a review of the criteria for electrode life testing and an examination of the resistance spot welding behavior of 5XXX alloy as compared to 2XXX and 6XXX alloys.